


I'll Forever Feel At Home

by justwantedtodance



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, This is like Hallmark movie fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:42:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwantedtodance/pseuds/justwantedtodance
Summary: Emma hated Christmas. That is, until her favorite customer comes along and helps her rediscover the spirit of Christmas. Title taken from my favorite song from Olaf's Frozen Adventure, "When We're Together."
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	I'll Forever Feel At Home

**Author's Note:**

> Posting just after Christmas! I hope you enjoy this little fluff piece, and I hope you all have happy holidays this year 😊
> 
> Enjoy!

Christmas was never easy, but this year, it hits particularly hard.

Emma specifically requests to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for the limited hours Beanie's would be open. People in Hatchetfield can’t survive a day without coffee, it seems, and while Emma isn’t a fan of her job, it at least gives her a distraction on what can be considered the most awful day of the year.

Her stomach groans when her 6:00 AM alarm sounds on Christmas morning. Used to, the 6:00 AM wake up call from Jane meant getting up and hiding as close to the living room as possible to sneak a peek at their presents. The two sisters, still dressed in their PJs, would try to decipher which boxes were theirs and how much of their list for Santa actually came. When they grew older, 6:00 AM still meant waking up, making some coffee, and heading to Jane’s for early morning pancakes.

But today, 6:00 AM brings nothing but emptiness and sorrow. After losing herself in thought, she checks her phone to find that 15 minutes have gone by, and she knows she needs to be in the shop in the next hour. Guess she won’t bother with makeup. Who would even come into Beanie's today anyway when Starbucks was open too?

It hasn’t all year, but now, today of all days, it decides to snow, which means she needs to allot an extra few minutes for travel delays on the road. Her gut twists at the thought of driving today. It would be some pretty fucked-up irony if she also got in a crash one year after her sister. Emma plops a messy bun on top of her head and grabs a Pop-Tart before shrugging her jacket on and heading out the door.

She makes it in the door with two and a half minutes to spare before they’re scheduled to open, and of course, Nora gives her a lecture about being prepared for the worst case scenario, to which Emma responds, “Okay, well, what about the worst case scenario in which we don’t get a single customer today, we make no money, and we opened up for literally nothing? Also, I’m not even late.”

Nora sighs. “Emma, look, I know today is a hard day—“

“Really? Do you really know, Nora,” Emma snaps.

She has a right to be upset today, she really does, Nora thinks. So, Nora takes another breath to think before she speaks and looks up from wiping down the counter. “I was trying to offer some support, but alright then. Just try not to take your feelings out on customers today, okay?”

Emma gives a half-hearted “okay” hand gesture and goes back to restocking the sugar packets at the condiment table. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any customers to piss off, especially since the snow began to pick up, falling faster onto the street.

About two hours in, Nora takes a break and Emma ducks down to replace the toffee nut syrup that she plans to put in her second cup of coffee today when their first customer of the day causes the store bell to jingle. She knows Nora will yell if she’s not upright and smiling when someone walks through the door, so Emma stands up a little too quickly and nearly takes her head off when she accidentally slams it against the countertop.

“Ow! Shit,” Emma curses quietly, hoping the customer doesn’t hear her.

“Emma? You okay?”

She stands up and rubs the bump she’s sure will develop over the course of the day without looking at the person at the counter. Who in the hell could that be that knows her— “Paul? What are you doing here? It’s Christmas, shouldn’t you be with your family?”

Paul takes his gloves off and smiles at Emma. “Yeah, I’m getting there. Got a bit of a late start this morning.”

“It’s not even 9 AM,” she says with a surprised laugh. “But then again, this is usually about the time you come in, so I guess you’re technically right on time for one thing.” Emma turns around to start on his order. “Black coffee?”

“Always.” He pulls out a few bills to pay for the coffee and some to tip her as usual.

Paul’s always in Beanie's for some reason, even though their coffee isn’t nearly as high quality as Starbucks. And Emma knows he works at the tech company down the street and that Starbucks is a block closer. Come to think of it, his presence is always a pick-me-up since his order’s easy and he’s not a shitty person.

“What time do you finish up here?”

“Noon, unfortunately.”

“Ah, and do you have any plans today?”

Quick, Emma, think. What can you say to make you sound less pathetic? “Uhh, yeah. Yeah. Umm, I think I’m gonna go home with Zoey and have lunch with her parents. Nothing major though.”

At the same time Emma’s fabricating her story, Nora walks out from the back. Of course, Paul takes notice.

“Gotcha. And, uh, where is Zoey right now?”

Emma snaps the lid on Paul’s cup and looks up as he waves a warm hello to Nora. Shit. Did he really catch on that easily? He must have given the sympathetic glance he sends Emma’s way. Begrudgingly, Emma walks over to hand Paul his coffee.

She mumbles, “Home with her parents in Clivesdale.” Emma sighs and leans on the counter. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want you to think I was, like, lame for not having anything to do on Christmas besides work. I mean, I don’t exactly have…” Emma swallows hard and hastily looks away to hide her emotional response.

“Don’t exactly have what?” Paul’s voices softens as he reaches across the counter to gently take her hand. “Emma…”

“It’s just… I lost my sister last Christmas. She was really the only family I had, and now…” Against her will, tears start to fall, and Paul squeezes her hand to comfort her.

“I’m so sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

“No, no, it’s not your fault. This was bound to happen today sooner or later, but I guess ‘sooner’ came earlier than I thought.” She tries to laugh through her tears, but the sound is choked and forced as it leaves her lips.

Paul, still holding her hand, feels a pang of guilt strike him right between his chest. No one deserves to be alone on Christmas, especially not someone as sweet as Emma.

“Hey, umm, if it helps, it’s just me and my grandma. We lost my grandpa earlier this year, so I haven’t exactly been in the Christmas spirit myself.”

Emma looks up at him with bleary eyes. He continues, “I know it doesn’t change things, but just know that it’s gonna be okay. You’ll see.” Paul offers her a smile and squeezes her hand once more. “I’ll be thinking about you today, Emma.”

“That’s sweet, Paul, thank you.” He smiles at her. She likes his smile a lot. “Go enjoy your day, okay?”

“Will do. See you soon, Emma!” He waves her goodbye, slipping her an extra $5 bill, and heads out to spend the morning with his grandma.

Noon finally comes, and Nora lets Emma go as soon as they close, saying she’ll take care of closing up. Nora, of course, says never to mention it to anyone; she’s got a reputation to manage. Emma laughs a little and heads to her car to drive to her house. On the way out of the shop, she spots a familiar face wandering down the block by the bus stop and squints her eyes to make sure it’s who she thinks it is.

“Paul? Is that you?”

He’s rubbing his hands together and turns around to where the voice came from.

“Oh, hi Emma! Fancy seeing you here.”

“I literally told you what time I get off work, you nerd. Why aren’t you with your grandmother?”

“Well, we always did coffee with presents early, it’s tradition. But she wasn’t feeling up to going out today, so uh... yeah.”

Emma lets a sly smile creep onto her face at Paul’s apparent flustered reaction to her prodding.

“And that’s the _only_ reason you showed up here when you knew what time I was getting off of work today?”

Paul rocks back and forth on his heels. “Well, maybe that’s not the _only_ reason.”

She steps directly in front of him. Even though she’s about a foot shorter than him, he’s sure she could knock him over like a leaf in the wind. “So, what’s the other reason then?”

His face reddens, and it’s not because the wind decides to blast across his face. “Uh, well, I was hoping— you can totally shoot me down if you want, I’ll completely understand— it’s just, I knew you were gonna be alone this Christmas, and—“

Emma presses her index finger to Paul’s lips, effectively shutting up his rambling. “Paul, do you want to take me out or not?”

“Yeah,” he all but squeaks behind Emma’s finger. Wow, that was embarrassing. Paul clears his throat and takes the hand on his mouth and links it with his own. “I mean, yes, I would like that very much.”

Emma smiles genuinely for the first time all day and leans on his arm.

“You hungry? There’s this great brunch place just outside of town if you want something to eat. I know you just worked.”

Emma would have probably declined if not for the obnoxious sound her stomach makes at the mention of warm delicious food that she doesn’t have to make herself.

“Well, that answers that question,” she jokes as they walk to her car. “I guess my Pop-Tart and two cups of coffee have reached their sustenance limit.”

“I don’t think they had much of one to begin with,” Paul counters.

“Fair point.”

They share a delicious meal at Rosie’s Diner just outside of Hatchetfield city limits laughing and bantering like two old friends. She wouldn’t have even considered or labeled this as a date until she and Paul are meandering through Oakley Park looking at the surrounding houses with their garish Christmas decorations finding which house wins the award for “Tackiest Lawn Decor.” While he’s giving his critiques to the two-story across from the post office, Emma decides to shovel some snow in one gloved hand and pour it down Paul’s back. The sound he makes is high-pitched enough to come out of her mouth.

“Emma-a-a! What the fuck was that for?!”

She takes off running finding shelter behind Snoopy’s doghouse in the inflatable Peanuts Christmas scene. Paul picks up some snow in his own hand, poised to fire the powdery ammunition when she reveals herself.

“You know I’m probably faster than you, so good luck trying to outrun me.”

“Longer legs don’t always make you faster,” she quips.

Emma giggles behind her hiding spot, and she decides to make a break for it when she hears Paul round the side of the house. He tosses the snow in her direction but doesn’t put enough force behind it to even remotely catch her. Maybe he should have joined the company softball league to get some pitching practice.

Clearly Emma doesn’t need any since amid his distraction, she pelts him with a snowball to his right shoulder. And there she goes dashing through the snow and laughing all the way. That’s alright, he’ll have the last laugh though.

When she sticks her tongue out at him taunting him for not being able to catch her yet, he seizes the opportunity to use the element of surprise on her. She doesn’t see his hand hidden with a handful of snow to deliver her some ice-cold karma, but she definitely feels it when Paul uses his other arm to trap her around her waist and lets the handful of snow drop down her back underneath her coat. Emma yelps and tries to work her way out of his grip, but her struggle ends up hurtling the pair of them into the snow in a fit of giggles.

Something in the air changes then. Emma brushes her hair out of her eyes and looks to see Paul staring down at her, eyes searching for what she could possibly be feeling. Unfortunately, her expression is practically unreadable given the mess of emotions swirling in her head, but what she can’t express with her face, she’ll have to express with action. Without thinking, Emma takes Paul’s face in her hands and kisses him.

It’s brief, but _wow_ , is it good. Emma pulls away and discerns Paul’s face. Did she cross a line? Did she read too much into the situation? Clearly not. Paul lifts her chin up and brings her back in for another kiss, his hand cupping the back of her head while the snow sprinkles lightly around them.

Thus was the start of a red-faced White Christmas making snow angels, sharing hot cocoa, and embracing that neither of them had to spend Christmas alone.

* * *

That was last Christmas.

This Christmas, Emma does wake up at her usual 6:00 AM, but this time, she’s sharing a bed with a very handsome string bean of a man who quite literally knocked her off her feet last Christmas. Paul stirs when Emma sits up and rubs her eyes to look out her bedroom window.

“Hiya, angel,” Paul greets as he sits up to match Emma, who’s currently entranced by the scenery outside.

“Paul, look, it’s snowing today.” He wraps his arms around her shoulders and kisses the side of her head.

“It sure is. Must be a sign from Jane.”

“Maybe so,” Emma sighs. She turns towards Paul and gives him a good morning kiss before curling up on his chest. “I love you so much.”

“I love you more.”

Emma sputters a laugh. “Impossible.”

“What do you wanna do today, Em? You’ve got the day off, so what would you like to do?”

“You want the sappy answer or my honest answer?”

Paul chuckles and smooths her hair. “Honest answer first.”

“Honest answer: stay in this bed, make out with your face a ton, and eat too much food for my own good. Sound good?”

“Sounds _great_!” Emma crosses one of her legs over his, and Paul covers her up with the blanket again. “What’s the sappy answer?”

Emma looks up at her sweet boyfriend and gives him a tender kiss. “Doesn’t matter as long as we’re together.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, if you have prompts or suggestions, hit me up on Tumblr @itsme-ashley-marie, or if you just want to talk about Starkid or anything else! 😊


End file.
